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A Lonely Death

In rapidly ageing Japan, more people are dying alone and unnoticed. Specialist clean-up crews are on hand to cleanse "lonely death" apartments once their passing is spotted, including placing incense and flowers. In March, the body of a man in his 80s was found on the floor of his apartment in Tokyo. He had been dead for a month. The family didn't visit and the only reason for the body's discovery was the slight smell that troubled the downstairs neighbour. In a country where around 5 million elderly people live alone, the number of decaying bodies found in empty homes is expected to soar.

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Hirotsugu Masuda, a worker for special cleaning, prays before entering a garbage-filled flat in Tokyo March 20, 2015 where a body of 85 year-old man was left over a month. Toru Hanai/REUTERS

Hirotsugu Masuda, a worker for special cleaning, checks belongings for documents to protect the owners family from identity theft and to find pictures that family members may value during special cleaning at a flat in Tokyo March 20, 2015 where a body of an 85 year-old man was left for over a month. Toru Hanai/REUTERS

A special cleaning worker and flat landlord Yoshie Fukuhara (R), 77, check belongings for documents to protect the owner's family from identity theft and to find pictures that family members may value at a flat in Tokyo March 21, 2015 where a body of an 85 year-old man was left for over a month. Toru Hanai/REUTERS

Flat landlord Yoshie Fukuhara, 77, lays flowers as she prays where the body of an 85 year-old man was left for over a month after the special cleaning of the flat in Tokyo March 21, 2015. Toru Hanai/REUTERS